Letter Writing Campaign launched to bring attention to the pressing situation in Attawapiskat

Students are urged to send emails and letters to Harper's office calling for action

Fourth year undergraduate student Kayla Simms is part of a vibrant group of students organizing an event regarding the pressing and urgent issue in Attawapiskat.

The event will take the form of a Letter Writing Campaign, in which students at the University will be encouraged to sign/write their own letters addressed to Prime Minister Harper calling for immediate attention and action in Attawapiskat. Coordinators of this important event are aiming to send 500-1000 letters by Thursday. The event began today at 12:00PM and will continue until 6PM for 3 days until we have reached our goal.

Charlie Angus, the NDP MP of Timmins, wrote an article in the Huffington Post about a week ago expressing the need to call attention to the matter in Attawapiskat, which has yet to receive any Government attention since declaring a state of emergency on October 18th. Mr. Angus has been made aware of our efforts and is fully endorsing the event. The MPs across Canada representing the NDP of Canada have been contacted and we are expecting a large amount of support across the Nation. The local liberal MP of Guelph, Frank Valeriote, is also on board and we are sending him an additional signed petition so that he may speak in the House of Commons in support of our cause.

This event began as a conversation only four days ago and has since exploded into an infectious initiative amongst students at the University of Guelph. Kayla Simms commented that “this has been so amazing to see and I am truly wowed by the active nature of the University of Guelph students. All this has come together and in a hectic time of final papers and exams quickly approaching. This is going to be great.”

The Central Student Association will be sending out a mass email to all students at the University of Guelph and will encourage students to send emails to Prime Minister Harper's office calling for immediate action and aid in Attawapiskat. Faculty members are also sending emails to their students encouraging them to write Prime Minister Harper immediately. Some are even turning their classes into a letter-writing event.